So, What Now?
by KiraSkywolf
Summary: A series of one-shots about the Parker-James family.
1. Poker

**Author's note:** I'm alive! Okay so this is not actually the Annie-centric fic I was talking about doing, but that one wasn't formulating as well as I had hoped, so I decided to go ahead with other ideas. This is the first in what I hope will be a series of one-shots about the Parker-James family set after, and maybe even before and during the movie. None of these will have anything to do with my other fic. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Parent Trap (1998) or any of its characters.

Poker

Annie Parker-James had always had a fairly good picture of herself. She knew she was pretty, but she was not so vain that she thought there weren't more beautiful girls out there because there were. She was polite and proper, as she was raised to be, and somewhat of a quiet, more reserved person. She was fairly intelligent and social, though truth be told, she could be quite shy, especially around boys. It was not as much of a problem anymore, however.

When she had moved to California after her parents' second wedding, Annie had been rather surprised to discover most of her sister's closest friends were male. Hallie had insisted that she overcome her shyness by using said friends as practice dummies. They were all very nice, if only to avoid a beating from Hallie, and her bashfulness had faded significantly as she integrated herself into the group.

Annie also knew the several expectations the people around her had for her future. Her grandfather hoped she would become a doctor like himself, though he was now retired. Her mother had a dream of her coming to work for her at the studio as an inspiring designer. Her father… well she did not actually know what he wanted her to be.

"_It's more like he has a list of things he doesn't want you to be." Hallie had answered when she had asked "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get to hear the speech soon. It likes to make an appearance whenever he thinks I'm not taking school seriously enough."_

She was also responsible. It was always her that diffused Hallie's wackier schemes and reminded her about school assignments and when it was getting late and they needed to get home. Annie was often the one to calm her sister's temper and keep her out of trouble in school and, of course, keep her company when she was forbidden to leave the house.

Annie found her doing just that now. They were in their room, playing cards on the floor in between their beds. Hallie was not actually in trouble this time, however. On the way back from their family's annual camping trip a rock, that had proven sturdy for everyone else, had suddenly given away just as Hallie had stepped on it and had sent the unfortunate girl tumbling down the steep trail resulting in a broken arm. Nick, all too used to the accidents Hallie was often involved in, had gotten them down the mountain and to the hospital without too much of a fuss, though Liz wasn't nearly as unaffected. She had been refusing to allow Hallie out of the house and made it clear it would not be an option again for at least another week, much to the girl's frustration.

So here she was, playing the responsible sister and attempting to keep the cooped up girl entertained. It was not exactly easy; sometimes she would swear her sister had a touch of ADD. It never ceased to amaze Annie just how different they really were. They were exactly identical appearance wise, but beyond that… it was a wonder they managed to switch places and still could if the need ever arose…

They were currently playing poker both Annie's great love and the bane to her existence. She was a great poker player; it had always been something she had known about herself. As soon as she was taught the rules of the game she seemed to be a natural, even her grandfather had a hard time beating her. No one besides him had ever come close until… Hallie. Since that fateful meeting at Camp Walden they had played hundreds of times, and still Annie had no wins to show for it. Sure she would win a few hands, but it was always her sister who took the pot. _Always._

She laid down her pair of tens only to have Hallie slap down a pair of kings. She concentrated on controlling her expression to conceal her frustration, but her sister saw through it like always.

"What's wrong sis?" Hallie taunted as she put down her cards to rake the small pot of coins to her pile with her good arm. "Feeling a little irritated?"

"Not at all." She replied coolly as she eyed her sister's blue cast. It was bulky, but it allowed enough finger movement that she should at least be able to hold her cards... "Does it hurt?" she asked gesturing to the broken limb.

"Course not." Hallie replied as she handed her cards back the more able twin for shuffling, but when the cards where dealt she still picked up her hand with her right hand.

Annie's eyes narrowed. "You haven't been taking that pain medication the doctor gave you."

The injured girl laughed and shook her head. "I swear, you and Mom are the biggest worrywarts I've ever seen! And you know I'm not in to painkillers. They always give me these freaky nightmares. I'll take two." She said as she awkwardly put her cards down to discard two of them into the pile.

Annie sighed as she dealt her sister two more cards. "Dealer takes one." She said as she discarded and drew one card. "What do you bet?"

Hallie gave her a mischievous smile before setting down her cards and scooting her entire pile to the middle. "I'm all in."

Her twin raised an eyebrow. Hallie was an excellent bluffer, but even she would not go all in unless she had something good. If she went all in she would lose for sure, but if she didn't…

"What's wrong? Chicken?" Hallie was grinning.

The British girl suppressed a sigh as she pushed her pile into the pot. It was foolish, but her pride wasn't about to let her back down. She should really learn not to get so annoyed, it was only a game after all, and there were plenty of other things she was better at than Hallie. Math was an example. Homework that only took her a few minutes often took her sister hours. It was only with her help that Hallie scrapped through Pre-Algebra with a border-line C-. She could always beat Hallie in tennis, chess, and fencing. Being bested at poker should not be that big of a deal… but it was. They laid down their cards.

"Dang!" Hallie exclaimed. Her straight had been bested by Annie's full house. "You win." She said glumly.

"I won?" Annie questioned frowning.

"Yeah, but don't get used to it." the injured girl stood. "Come on, I think Mom's working on some sketches. Maybe I could sneak outside for a little while." She started for the door.

"Now you hold it right there!" Annie shouted standing. "Before you came along, there wasn't anyone who could beat me-"

"I believe you." Hallie replied confused by her sister's sudden anger. "You're the best poker player I've ever met."

"What are you talking about?" Even Annie was startled by the fury she was suddenly unleashing. "I've never beaten you before now! And if you think I'm going to stand here and be insulted by you letting me win, then you've got another thing coming!"

"I didn't let you win." Hallie assured her. "And I don't really count…"

"Why not?" the British girl asked confusion creeping into her anger.

Hallie laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Annie, I don't count because I cheat."

Annie's face went blank and she blinked several times. "What?"

Hallie kept laughing. "I cheat. I've always cheated. That was the first fair game I've played in years."

"Years? So at camp…"

"You didn't honestly believe I would've come up with jumping in the lake if I wasn't sure I'd win did you?"

"But why play fair now?" Annie questioned.

Hallie held up her casted left arm. "It's too hard to do with one hand. You would've caught me. In fact, I can't believe you didn't figure it out before. Honestly Ann, no one is that good at poker! There's just too much luck involved." She grinned. "You're such a sucker."

Yes, there were many things Annie knew about herself. She was the best poker player she knew of, and maybe even quite naïve when it came down to it. And…

"So all of those other times we played you were cheating?" Annie asked as she followed her twin out of their room and toward the stairs.

"Yeah. We already went over this remember?"

"Then I want all my things back!"

"Um…" Hallie suddenly bolted down the stairs and around the corner out of sight.

"Sorry! Can't hear ya!" She called as Annie heard the back door open.

"Hallie Parker-James! You get back in this house this instant!" Their mother shouted, her hands on her hips as she glared at her injured daughter who had stopped several yards from outside of the door.

"Ah come on Mom! It's only a broken arm! Besides I'm actually trying to prevent further bodily harm…" Hallie took off towards the barn as she saw Annie coming down the stairs.

…And her sister was the only person in the entire world who could infuriate and amuse her at the same time.

"What's going on?" Liz asked as Annie came beside her to watch Hallie's flight.

Annie smiled. "Let's just say if I catch her, I might have to break her other arm." She said as she took off after her sister.

**Ending Note:** So what'd you think? This one was mostly about Annie and her point of view. I'm going to try to make the characters and themes vary. If you have any suggests for what you'd like to see in later chapters let me know!


	2. Apologies

**Author's Note:** Wow, this took a lot longer than I thought it was going to. I have a few ideas to work with now so hopefully the next update won't take as long, no promises though. To avoid any confusion about the timing: This takes place during the movie after the dinner on the boat that the twins set up for their parents. Enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Parent Trap (1998) or any of its characters. ) :

Apologies

It was late, yet sleep refused to come to Elizabeth James. It had been a long day full of plane travel, her daughters' schemes, dinner with her ex-husband, and a little too much alcohol. A sudden dull throb reverberated through her skull, reminding her it had been more than just a little too much. It was funny, because the woman could have sworn that one of the symptoms of a hangover was fatigue, but still she was lying there wide awake watching the digital clock creep past 3AM and sluggishly crawl toward 4. Of course, she had never experienced a hangover before so it was hard for her to say for sure, but the headache seemed to her only ailment. Maybe it wasn't the alcohol at all. After all, hadn't she been perfectly coherent at dinner? Maybe it was just… everything else.

Liz found herself gazing at the two biggest parts of everything else. Her daughters were sleeping peacefully in the second bed in the room, curled up together in a rather adorable fashion. She sighed. Her girls were meant to be together. The last thing the woman wanted was to split them up again, but she knew it was inevitable. Even as she made those ridiculous suggestions to Nick about them taking turns taking both of them, she knew. She couldn't imagine living without at least one of them by her side even if it meant the girls wouldn't be without one another, and she knew Nick probably felt the same. They were selfish in that way. Maybe that had been part of the problem.

The original "solution" they had in place hadn't been either her or Nick's first choice. Neither of them had been happy with raising only one daughter and never knowing the other, but, at the time, it seemed like the best solution. They were both such young hot-heads, Liz doubted they would have been able to be civil even for occasional visits and living on two separate continents already made any possible visits difficult and in need of planning. It was better for them to grow up separately with a relatively happy parent than together with parents who fought the time wasn't it?

The throbbing had become a steady tempo now, and the blonde massaged her temples and tried to remember if she had packed any aspirin. All of those drinks on the plane hadn't been one of her best ideas, but as they had sped steadily toward California and its awaiting conflicts she had needed _something_ to help contain the building pressure.

Elizabeth recalled Hallie's frown as one drink turned into three then into five and then… well, things got a little fuzzy after that. She did, however, remember her daughter's occasional reassurances that their rendezvous with Nick was going to be just fine. Of course, the girl had no way of knowing that seeing Nick again was the cause of only about half of the designer's worries. She didn't seem to realize that reaching California also meant that Liz would have to give her up, again. The girl was too young to understand the pain of giving up one's child, and, of course, Hallie couldn't recall her mother's tears as she had held her as a newborn for the first and what she had assumed would be the last time.

The woman shook her head to rid herself of the painful memory. It hadn't been the last time and Liz was grateful. She would still get to see Hallie. She and Nick had already discussed sending the girls back and forth for the holidays and there were the possibilities of next summer. It still wasn't the ideal situation, but a vast improvement over the previous one and the designer was more than willing to take it. Liz was glad that something long-term had come out of her daughters' sweet but naïve plan to set her and Nick up, even if it probably wasn't what the they were aiming for.

One the twins shifted in her sleep causing the mother's attention to refocus on the two sleeping forms. They hadn't seemed as disappointed as Liz had thought they would be when she informed them that she and Annie would be flying back to London in the morning. Hadn't this whole scheme taken enough time and effort for there to be more of a reaction than the mild disappointment that had been shown earlier? She had been prepared for tears and screaming. It made the woman suspicious. They must have something else up their sleeves. A back-up plan shouldn't really be a surprise after the planning and work that must have gone in to the girls switching places, but, in the end, it wouldn't make a difference. Even if they managed to delay their departure, it was still only just a delay. It didn't matter how many tactics the girls had left because their ultimate goal was a moot point. It didn't matter that Nicolas Parker was a wonderful man, who had grown-up quite nicely in the past eleven years. They were mature adults now with two separate live in two different parts of the world. It didn't matter if she still loved him deep down…

Elizabeth caught herself before her thoughts they could go any further down that forbidden path. Had she just admitted she still _loved_ Nick Parker? She glanced nervously at her sleeping daughters as if her private thought would leak out of her head and enter into theirs'. She shook her throbbing head. Now she was just being ridiculous. It must be the alcohol.

Surely the feelings she was having toward the man were acceptable forms of love. She could love him for being a good father and just being a good person couldn't she? Yes, of course, that _must_ be it. There was no way these feelings were the same ones she had felt for him all those years ago…

But even if they were, (not that she was admitting it, just hypothetically) it still didn't matter. Nick had clearly moved on. He was marrying Meredith in a little over a week and even if he wasn't they lived on opposite sides of the planet and both had demanding careers. No, it was impossible. She wished her girls could see that so further disappointment and heart-break could be avoided. This was for the best.

Yet, as Elizabeth once again found herself gazing at her daughter's peacefully still forms she couldn't help but feel she was utterly robbing them of something vital. The girls would be all right, people grew up with broken families quite frequently now, but she couldn't help but want more for them. She felt, no she _knew_ her daughters deserved better, but it was impossible. Of course, she and Nick would try to give them the closest broken family possible, but with Meredith in the picture the possibility of just the four of them visiting together was all but extinguished. They would try and try hard, but…

"I'm sorry," She whispered into the darkness, hoping that the apology would somehow find its way into her daughters' sub-consciousnesses and ease the pain that was sure to come in the fast-approaching morning. "I'm sorry I can't give you the family you deserve."

Elizabeth rested her head back against her pillow, her head ache now insignificant to the exhaustion that her heavy thoughts had brought on. Tomorrow was going to be a long day…


	3. Innocence

**Author's Note:** Hey, an update! Yay! Okay this one takes place before the movie.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Parent Trap (1998) or any of its characters. ) :

Innocence

Paperwork was the devil. It was something that Nick Parker reaffirmed every Monday when he went over all of the various documents that the growing success of Parker Knoll was producing. Of course, the success made the paperwork a little less scary in that he was looking at more profit and expansion than bills and debt. Still, the man found these Monday afternoons tedious, so the jiggling of the handle on his office door was more than enough to draw his attention away from the sales report in his hands.

"Daddy?" the young red-headed girl questioned as she peeked into the room.

"Hey, Hal." Nick smiled as he glanced at the clock. Yes, it was time for school to be out wasn't it? He dropped the papers, pushed his rolling chair a few feet from the desk, and held out his arms. Hallie quickly entered and crawled into his lap.

"How was school?"

"Fine." Nick frowned at the short and rather glum sounding answer. Usually the question brought on a full enthusiastic description of the day.

"What's wrong, Squirt?" the man questioned.

The girl was silent for over a minute keeping her eyes on her hands as they fidgeted in her lap.

"Hal, did something happen?... Hal?... Hallie?" Nick gently began to shake his daughter's shoulder as his concern grew with each passing second of silence.

"Why don't I have a mommy?" Hallie blurted suddenly.

Nick's worry faded from him in an instant and was replaced by shock and something else he couldn't quite identify. "What?" he asked softly.

The girl's face finally looked up at her father's, frowning slightly for having to repeat herself. "Why don't I have a mommy?"

"Why don't you… W-what brought this on?"

The red-head's frown deepened at not yet having an answer, but she decided to be patient and explain further. "Everyone else in my class has one. And everyone says you have to have a daddy AND a mommy for a baby to come. But … I don't."

It was then that Nick's brain finally came out of its stupor. Her mother. Right. Of course, questions like this were going to come up. She was in school now and had other lives to compare her own to. Hadn't he known this? Hadn't he prepared for this? Oh, that's right. He was just going to tell her the _truth_. He stood up and sat Hallie on top of his desk so he could talk to her more on her level.

"Well, you see Hal…" It was then that he made the mistake of looking into his innocent little daughter's expectant eyes.

The _truth_? He had really thought that he could just plop his five-year-old down and tell her the truth? What part of the truth could she possibly understand? What could this child possibly glean from the truth about his divorce and the horrible agreement made that wouldn't completely shatter her? Well, he definitely couldn't tell her about her sister. Not that he had ever planned on it, but was she really old enough to understand the concept of divorce? No of course she wasn't! He didn't really understand it half of the time! But here she was, expecting him to give her something. What could her say?

"Those people are right," he continued slowly. "Usually there does have to be a daddy and mommy for a baby to come, but you're special."

"Special?" the girl questioned tilting her head to the side and looking skeptical. "Special how?"

"Well, you see… Babies come from this big bird called the stork."

The girl nodded in agreement and Nick felt a little relieved that he had stumbled upon a story that the girl had already been told. Now he just had to roll with it…

"Normally the stork will only bring a baby when there is both a daddy and a mommy wanting one, but I didn't have a mommy." He was doing good…but he needed some drama.

"One night there was a terrible storm and the stork had to land on my porch. I didn't think he was warm enough so I let him inside."

"How come he got to come inside but you wouldn't let me bring Mr. Quackers inside when it was raining?" Hallie demanded a slight pout on her face.

"Because Mr. Quackers is a duck. Ducks like the rain." He thought for a minute before adding on another reason. "And because the stork knew how to use the toilet. No animals can come into the house unless they are potty trained."

"Fine," The girl sighed, pouting for a few seconds before turning her attention back to her father.

"Okay, as I was saying," Nick continued, satisfied that he had prevented anymore animals being smuggled indoors for at least a few days. "The stork spent the night at my house and I guess he saw how lonely I was, because a few days later you were sitting in a basket on my porch. Now I'm not lonely anymore and I have a reason to work hard and get us nicer things." He gestured around him at the nice house that had only been completed months before.

Hallie's face creased into a frown again and for a terrible moment Nick thought she had seen threw his badly thought-out story.

"Okay," she said suddenly, her frown replaced with a smile. "That makes sense. Can I go play now?"

Nick grinned back at her. "Sure," he replied sitting her back onto the floor. He watched her hurry out of the office and shut the door behind her. The man then made his way back to his desk and sat down in his chair.

His grin disappeared. He felt… guilty. Out of everything he had been feeling a minute ago, that was what seemed to stick. That was the first real lie he had ever told his daughter. Of course, it was just a white lie and a poor one at that. Parents told little white lies all the time to protect their children from truths they weren't ready for didn't they? Still, Nick couldn't help but feel that this was the mother of all white lies. Mother. That was the problem wasn't it? He just needed a little more time. A year or two would be good. Just a few more years of Hallie being a happy innocent little girl that didn't have to wonder about a mother she didn't know. Then again, Hallie was also a smart little girl with classmates to talk to. Yes, he'd be lucky if that story held up a year, but he'd take whatever he could get.

Nick sighed as he sat back down in his chair and looked down at the papers that covered his desk.

_I really hate paper work._

**Ending Note:** Okay, I know that the little story that Nick makes up is really REALLY awful and not very developed at all, but since he is making it up on the spot for a five-year-old it's kinda supposed to be. (Yes, that's the excuse that I'll stick with.) Other than that I'd love to know what everyone thought about it. Also, I am still open to suggestions on characters and themes, though I do have some ideas about ones that I would like to do and I can't guarantee that suggestions will be done right away or at all. If I do decide to use someone's idea I'll definitely let you know and you will be credited in the author's note. Thanks for reading!


	4. Plenty of Time

**Author's Note:** Wow, I updated. Miracles do happen. Thanks so much to everyone that has left a review. I really appreciate it and I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long. This one details a little bit about Charles realizing that the granddaughter who has come back from summer camp is not the same one that has left. It mostly takes place after Hallie fell out of her chair at dinner. Enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Parent Trap (1998) or any of its characters. ) :

Plenty of Time

Something had been nagging in the back of Charles James' mind ever since his granddaughter had returned from summer camp. It wasn't that the girl had changed in any drastic way. She might physically a little taller, but that wasn't unusual for a child her age after a course of eight weeks. Still, he began watching her a little more closely and indeed did discover that his granddaughter WAS different. It was just little things that she did differently than she had before, little habits and mannerisms that seemed to have been absent before or were absent now. Of course, these things could probably be attributed to Annie being away for most of the summer or simply the changes that came with growing up, but the nagging persisted despite his logical explanations.

The years had taught Charles to trust his instincts, so when dinner produced Annie's oddest behavior yet his suspicions solidified. How on earth had she become so knowledgeable about wine? Surely it really wasn't something they would teach at a summer camp for young girls, and her falling out of her seat after one sip seemed rather farfetched. Not only that, but she had seemed far too eager to get outside _alone._

He gave the girl about a minute and a half before rising from his seat.

"I think I'll go see if she's feeling alright."

"I'll go with you," his daughter said also rising.

"Now, now Lizzie. You said you needed to get straight to work after dinner since you two were going out tonight didn't you?"

"Well yes, but…"

"I'm sure she's fine. I'll take her to the park to clear her head. No need to put it off any longer. This old man's still quite capable of handling a few things now and again."

"Well alright, but let me know if she's feeling too badly," Elizabeth agreed grudgingly.

He nodded and went out the front door to find the front yard empty. The older man hurried to the gate in time to see a flash of red hair rounding the corner at the far end of the street. Charles followed at a brisk walk, reasoning that she wouldn't be going too far with her concerned mother waiting for her inside.

His reasoning was correct. He found the red head in a phone booth only a little ways from the corner. He stood outside of it with his back to her, wondering why she would need to call someone at a time like this, let alone out here instead of the convenient house phone. Yes, this seemed like the perfect time to confront her about her strange behavior.

Suddenly the girl's conversation ended. She hung up the phone and opened the door in a rushed manner, hitting Charles in the back.

"Oh, excuse me sir…" his granddaughter apologized in a clear American accent before recognizing him and stopping short. "Uh-oh."

And suddenly everything fell into place. The fear in the girl's eyes told Charles everything he needed to know for it all to make sense. This girl wasn't _Annie_ but _Hallie_ pretending to be Annie. Of course, this didn't answer the important questions of why or how this even was, but it was enough to give the older man a sense of relief.

"Uh-oh. Yes, well." His amusement of the whole impossible situation was enough to cover up his pure astonishment. "What say you and I take a stroll around the park young lady, hmm?"

"Okay," Hallie agreed meekly as Charles put his arm around her and led her to the park across the street.

"Come on then," he said when they had gone down the park's concrete path a little ways and girl had yet to say anything. "What's this all about?"

"It's kind of a long story."

"Well," the older man replied. "It's a very big park and we've got plenty of time."

Hallie took a deep breath. "Well, first of all, I'm sure you've figured out that I'm actually Hallie Parker and not Annie James."

The man nodded before extending his spare hand out to her. "Charles James."

"We've never formally met, now have we Miss Parker?" he added upon seeing his granddaughter's confused expression.

"I guess we haven't," Hallie admitted as she took his hand and shook it. "And just call me Hal."

"Alright Hal, what's all of this about?"

The introduction seemed to have relaxed the girl and she proceeded to tell him the story of how she and Annie had met at Camp Walden, how they had realized they were twins when they were placed in the same cabin together, (The details of which seemed rather sketchy and undefined in Hallie's explanation, but Charles decided not to pry.) and of their idea to switch places.

"And I'm assuming that the important phone call that you suddenly need to make was to Annie in California?"

"Yeah. She sent me a fax. Martin had it in his hand and I was trying to get a better look at it when I fell out of the chair."

"Well, that's a relief. I was worried that you might actually be that sensitive to alcohol," the old man joked.

Hallie laughed. "No way. Not after living on a vineyard for over half of my life."

"Have you, now?"

It suddenly seemed to dawn on Charles that he knew next to nothing about this granddaughter's life. He only knew that she went to live in California with her father who had bought land in with the intention of starting a vineyard.

"When did your father's business take off?"

The girl shrugged. "I'm not really sure. We built the house we I was five so probably a little bit before that." Hallie's face suddenly took on a more serious look.

"So I guess you have to rat me out now, huh?"

"No, I'm not going to 'rat you out', but I expect you to tell your mother the truth."

She grimaced. "Right now?"

Charles thought for a moment. "No, not right now. She was rather looking forward to the theatre this evening. She has really missed you."

"Annie," the girl corrected rather bitterly. "She missed _Annie, _not _me._"

He frowned. "Yes, she has missed _Annie_ this summer, but she's missed_ you_ your entire life."

The red head laughed once without humor.

"What you don't believe me?"

"I… I don't know," she replied after a brief moment of hesitation. "My whole life I've always wondered about my mother. My Dad hardly ever talked about her or why they got divorced. The only things I ever really knew about her was what she looked like from a picture he had of her and that she didn't seem to want me too badly since she left me there."

"That is not true," Charles replied. "But tell me something, why would you go through with such a plan is you thought that?"

Hallie managed a faint smile. "Well, I kinda have this habit of jumping into things without thinking everything through first. It's really something I've gotta work on. And, the way Annie talked about her; it just didn't seem possible that she would do any of this without a good reason. And now that I've actually met her she seems like a really caring person, but I haven't even known her for a full two days yet and…"

The girl trailed off and slipped into a silence that lasted several minutes as she stared down at her shoes.

"And what Hallie?" her grandfather prompted only to have her look up at him with the most devastated expression he had ever seen on either of his granddaughters' identical faces.

"But no matter what, nothing can change that she still _left me_. That even after all the trouble we went through to switch places, it might be for nothing if she finds out it's me and just doesn't want me because it's _me_ and not _Annie_," the girl finished in a little more than a whisper.

"Hallie, look at me," Charles said sternly.

It took a moment but eventually the girl managed to make her eyes meet his. He took the girl by the shoulders in an effort to make sure she wouldn't turn away.

"Hallie, I want you to listen to what I'm about to tell you and no matter what the outcome of any of this is, never forget it."

The redhead managed a nod and the man continued.

"There was never a single moment that your mother didn't want you. From the time that she realized she was pregnant to this very moment, she has always wanted you. She has always loved you and your sister equally, even though she has not been able to know you, and no matter what happens, she always will. Giving you up was the hardest, most painful thing she has ever had to do."

"Then why-"

"Did she do it?" Charles finished and Hallie simply nodded. "Your parents were young when all of it happened, and it was a difficult situation. Both of them wanted to be your parents but living on different sides of the world made it too impractical for them both to have joint-custody and neither of them were willing to give up their ambitions for the future and move to a different country."

None of it had been easy. He could remember his surprise when Lizzie had returned home only a few months after heading for New York, hoping of getting hired on by a fashion company. His surprise turned into astonishment when she informed him that she had gotten married on the boat ride over. He knew that his daughter was young and a little naïve, but he had never imagined that she would actually marry a perfect stranger in the middle of the Atlantic! The only part that didn't surprise him was the fact that they were now going to file for divorce in less than a few months afterwards. He had been upset at his daughter's lack of judgment but relieved that she had come her senses before things had become more complicated. He hired a divorce lawyer and things went smoothly at first. His daughter's husband seemed at least decent enough to not go after her money. He seemed content to sign the papers without demanding anything more than being allowed to keep what he had before the marriage.

Unfortunately, things became much more complicated before any papers could be signed. Lizzie was pregnant, and now there was no easy solution. Normally, as the mother, Lizzie would have had automatic custody, and Nick would have been given visitation rights and even joint-custody, but the sheer distance between them made this impractical. Furthermore, Nick argued that he wouldn't even get sufficient visitation due to his lack of funds. He had come from a poor family and what he had managed to accumulate himself was going to his vineyard. Charles couldn't completely dismiss Nick's rights as a father, but thought that Nick should give up on his California vineyard and move to England. The American's lawyers argued that it would financially be easier for Lizzie to move, but Charles would have none of that. He was Lizzie's closest family and they had no relatives in America. He was not going to send his daughter to a different country alone to raise his grandchildren and he was not about to uproot his life just so Nick would get a chance to be a father. They were at a stalemate until it was discovered that they were having twin daughters. This finally allowed the lawyers to come together and propose the most practical solution they could come up with.

"Eventually it was decided that each of your parents would be given full custody to one of you. It was the best solution at the time," Charles explained.

"But why didn't they tell us about each other?" Hallie demanded her frustration at being lied to for most of her life evident. "We could have visited each other at least!"

Charles mouth became a thin line. That was something even he didn't understand. The lawyers suggested that cross visitations could be handled outside of court. He had been furious when Lizzie had told him that there would be no cross visitations. He was even more furious and outraged when Nick had agreed. He couldn't understand their decision and continued to express his negative opinion long after the papers were signed and the deed had been done. But he began to realize that he was only adding to his daughter's pain and pushing her away when she needed his support. So he grudgingly forced himself to accept the situation and try to make the best of it as he helped his daughter raise the granddaughter he was allowed to see.

"Honestly, I can't answer that," Charles said at last. "Only your parents know the answers, but I am certain it wasn't because they loved one of you over the other. They did know that the daughter they wouldn't raise would be cared for and loved. Beyond that, I think they were just afraid that their fighting might make it difficult for both of you. They were young and frightened and it makes people do things they regret. Even people that are supposed to be adults."

Hallie was quiet for a few moments. "But, they aren't like that now right?"

"Well, I should hope not," the older man replied.

"Then maybe we still have a shot," she said with a smile.

Charles paused at that. He didn't want his granddaughter to get her hopes up about her parents getting back together, but… Well, at the very least, this would get them in the same room and force them to talk about things. Maybe they would be able to get past what was holding them back and at least allow their daughters to visit back and forth. That was at least worth something.

"Perhaps," the man replied, bringing a smile to the girl's face. "Now," he said began walking again and motioned for his granddaughter to follow. "Tell me about California. I understand it's a little sunnier than here."

Hallie hesitated. "Shouldn't we be heading back?"

Charles smiled. "We have plenty of time." This was the first conversation he had had with this particular granddaughter and he did not intend to rush it.

The girl seemed to take his word for it and followed him down the path, content to get to know family that she had never known.

**Ending Note:** Sorry if the divorce and custody description seems sketchy. I have personally never been divorced or had any children, so I'm unfamiliar with the details of the process. Besides that, this would technically be taking place internationally and several years ago… so yeah, no clue. Anyway, I hoped you liked it. Thanks for reading!


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